Harry's 6th year
by QueenAllie
Summary: Just a storyline that came into my head of Harry's 6th year when a new person comes into his life. rated PG-13 just to be safe. R/R please!
1. Prospect of Freedom

A.N. I had this silly idea when I was thinking of Harry Potter one day and decided I'd try my hand at writing a fan fic rather than just reading them. As this is my first FF reviews are welcome, but be kind please. ( I am attempting to keep to the style of J.K. Rowling a bit, but, for the story to unfold the way I would like, some alowences must be made. I don't own any of these characters in the first chapter. wish I did tho.  
  
After spending another uneventful birthday at the Dursley's, if you call getting chased around the kitchen by Aunt Petunia with a frying pan uneventful, Harry Potter was overjoyed to say the least to receive an owl carrying a letter from Arthur Weasly saying Albus Dumbledore was going to allow Harry to spend the last 3 weeks of his summer holiday with Ron and Hermione.  
Harry was absolutly delighted as he re-read the letter. This meant he would be going to the headquarters for The Order of the Pheonix. His smile fell however when he remembered where the headquarters was stationed. Sirius's house.  
Harry sat down on the edge of his bed and thought about what had happend last year. It would be different going back after everything. Different and difficult.  
Harry looked at the letter he held in his hand and read it again.  
  
Harry-  
I have spoken to Albus on this matter and he thinks  
it would be alright for you to come and visit Ron and  
Hermione for the remainder of your holiday. We will be  
by to pick you up in two days so be ready then!  
-Arthur Weasley  
  
Dropping the letter to the floor Harry leaned back onto his bed and stared up at the ceiling. It was the same ceiling he woke up to and stared at in the darkness after waking from his nightmares. Harry sighed and hoped that going to Sirius's old house wouldn't be as bad as it seemed  
The large red numbers on his clock flashed to 12:18 and he decided to go to bed. Harry slipped off his glasses, set them on his side table, and turned out the lights. Before drifting off to sleep his thoughts wondered to how he was going to tell his Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia that he was leaving.  
  
"No!" Harry gasped as he sat up suddenly. Panting slightly Harry wiped some sweat off of his forehead and tried to forget what he had dreamed. The dim red light of his clock made Harry's eyes glow with the unshead tears that threatened falling. Dumbledore had said it did no one good to dweal on the past, but Harry could not forget the night that Sirius had died.  
Harry rolled over onto his side and glared at the wall trying not to cry. "It's not my fault," he mumbled to no one and continued telling it to himself until he managed to drift of to a, thankfully, dreamless sleep.  
  
Harry blinked in stupefaction at Uncle Vernon who simply glared at him, his face beginning to purple.  
"Well boy?" Uncle Vernon roared. "How are these people going to pick you up?"  
Harry blinked again as he thought about the times he had been picked up by wizards. Memories of flying cars, exploding fireplaces, and midnight broom flights flashed through his mind.  
"I don't know," Harry said plainly. "The letter just said he would get me tomorrow, not how."  
"Get you tomorrow," Uncle Vernon grumbled into his tea cup which he then proceeded to wave emphatically in Harry's direction, causing some tea to spill onto Aunt Petunia's table cloth.  
"I don't even know why I'm letting you go!" Uncle Vernon shouted. "You must be the most disrespectful, undisciplined, ungrateful-"  
"You're 'letting' me go because I would go anyway, no matter what you said," Harry interrupted. "I'm just telling you I'm leaving. Not asking."  
Uncle Vernon's face turned an even darker shade of purple and the vein in his neck began to throb, as Dudley looked on in interest. Aunt Petunia continued to wash the dishes as she carefully didn't look at her husband.  
"Go to your room!" Uncle Vernon commanded, pointing at the stairs. "And I don't want to hear a word out of you for the rest of the day!"  
Harry left the dining room gladly. He stomped up the stairs and it took all his will power not to slam the door.  
He almost jumped with surprise as Pigwidgeon flew right at his head as he zoomed around the room. It took a few seconds of chasing Pigwidgeon around his room, but Harry managed to grab a hold of the owl, and took the letter from him. He glanced down at it and recognized Ron's handwriting almost immediately.  
After letting Pigwidgeon go and telling him he wouldn't have a letter for Ron (what was the point? Harry would see him tomorrow), Harry tore open the envelope and read the letter.  
  
Hey Harry!  
Dad told me you'd be here tomorrow so I thought I'd  
write you a quick note. We're still at the usual place and  
some new people have been here lately. I was actually  
surprised Fudge let Dumbledore keep the Order under his  
control, but I bet Fudge would give up some of his power  
so he won't have to deal with You-Know-Who. Wuss.  
Anyway, see you soon and don't let the Muggles get  
you down!  
Ron  
  
Harry almost grinned at the part about Fudge. There was no way he could see Dumbledore letting Fudge even try to takeover the Order. With one last glance at the letter, Harry began his packing. 


	2. New and Old Faces

Harry sat on the end of his bed, his foot tapping slightly in impatience, his Hogwarts stuff packed and waiting by his door. He glanced at the clock again. Four minutes from the last time he looked. It was already past one. When were they going to pick him up?  
About one minute later the doorbell rang and Harry sprinted down the stairs to find that Uncle Vernon already had the door open. He would have had to have been sitting by the door to have gotten it open that fast.  
Harry stopped suddenly after he saw the person standing in the door way. It was a young man of about the age of 25 with short brown hair. Harry stared at the young man in confusion.  
"Who are you?" Uncle Vernon demanded gruffly.  
The young man winked at Harry before replying. "Mr. Tonks, sir. I'm here to pick up a young Mr. Potter."  
Harry did his best to hide his smile as Uncle Vernon turned purple at the fact that Harry was going to have a chauffeur.  
"Thank you sir," Harry said as he tried not to look at Tonks. "I'll just go and get my things."  
"No need young sir," Tonks said his eyes alight with mischief. "Your things have already been taken care of.." With that he stepped aside.  
Harry could see another person pushing his trunk into the back of the car. The person looked vaguely familiar, but before Harry could place him Tonks moved back and said, "If the young sir is ready to leave?"  
Harry merely grinned at the question and before Uncle Vernon could say anything more he walked through the doorway and called back, "See you next summer!" before Uncle Vernon could shut the door. Harry could just imagine the look on the Dursley's faces as he walked out to the car.  
When they reached the car Tonks held open the door for Harry and then climbed into the front. The driver, who had loaded Harry's things, turned around and said in his soft voice, "Hello Harry."  
"Lupin!" Harry cried in delight. "What are you doing here?"  
"Well," Lupin said smiling as he pulled out onto Privet Drive, "Tonks can't drive that well and Molly didn't want Arthur to leave work just to come pick you up so I volunteered."  
Harry leaned back in his seat and looked around. "So where are we going?" he asked the now normal Tonks.  
After checking in the mirror to make sure everything was right Tonks said, "We figured it would be easier to just park the car at Kings Cross and then 'acquire' a cart and walk to the house. Shouldn't be to hard," she said smiling at Harry.  
Harry leaned back and listened to Tonks argue with Lupin about what music she wanted to play on the radio and smiled. It seemed to be going rather well. Guess he would just have to wait till he got to the house to see how he was going to like this new arrangement.  
  
"Okay Harry," Lupin said as they started walking down Grimmauld Place. "You know the drill."  
As Harry neared number 11 on the street he thought of the house he was going to. Number 12 Grimmauld Place. Then, just as it had done before, the dark, old house squeezed its way into the row of houses lining the street. Harry took a deep breath and walked up to the door determined to try and make the best of whatever was going to happen. It was the only thing he could do.  
Lupin tapped the door with his wand and after the locks undid themselves the door swung open slightly. They stepped in, Harry holding Hedwig in her cage and Lupin and Tonks pulling in Harry's trunk.  
"Right, well, I'll just go tell everyone you're here Harry!" Tonks said brightly as she headed towards the stairs.  
Lupin's arm reached out and grabbed Tonks' robe right before she would have walked into the umbrella stand. "Whoops! Thanks Lupin. I really should remember that's there..." Tonks said as she dodged around the stand and headed up stairs.  
Harry smiled ruefully. Some things never change. He had begun to wonder why they didn't just move the stand somewhere else when someone Harry had never seen before walked out of the kitchen.  
The woman was looking at a piece of parchment and mumbling to herself. She looked to be around her mid 30's, with blond hair, and her dark robe made her look extremely pale.  
Harry heard a sharp intake of breath from beside him and looked up at Lupin as he said, "Lavena?"  
The woman looked up from what she was reading and stopped suddenly, her blue eyes widening in surprise. "Remus?" she asked softly. "I thought.... I didn't..." she trailed off.  
Harry looked between the two and felt uncomfortable, so he slowly began to head up to the stairs. Lupin glanced at Harry and said, "I was just going to pick up Harry so he could visit with his friends before heading back to Hogwarts. I didn't know you were arriving today."  
But before the woman could reply a man walked out of the kitchen door behind her and called out behind him "Don't forget about your meeting." Harry was surprised to hear he was an American. The man stopped when he saw Lupin and smiled. "Remus Lupin! Surprised to see you here. How have you been?" He asked while holding out his hand.  
Lupin smiled back and shook the hand extended towards him. "I've been fine Scott. Harry, this is Scott Calder and his wife Lavena. Scott, Lavena, this is Harry Potter."  
Scott smiled at Harry and said to Lupin, "Well, good to see you're doing well. Lavena and I had better be going now." And with that he took the woman's arm and led her out of the house.  
"Harry!!" Ron yelled as he started down the stairs.  
"Quiet Ron!" Hermione said as she walked down quickly after Ron.  
"Come on Harry," Ron said grabbing one side of Harry's trunk, "We've got loads to tell you."  
With one last glance at Lupin, who was staring thoughtfully into space, Harry handed off Hedwig to Hermione and helped Ron heave his trunk up the stairs.  
  
Finally after Ron and Hermione had almost talked themselves hoarse Harry went downstairs with everyone for dinner. He was surprised most of all by the fact that Voldemort hadn't been doing too much the past summer. He wasn't sure if he was glad because he hadn't missed much in the way of information, or upset because they didn't know what he was up to now.  
Right as Harry was about to reach for the door when suddenly it opened and he had to step back to make sure it didn't hit him.  
"Sorry," came a voice and all Harry saw of the speaker was a flash of blonde hair as a girl ran by muttering, "I'm going to be late...."  
Harry looked at Ron and Hermione, who were behind him and looked just as befuddled as he felt, before heading into the kitchen.  
"Harry!" Mrs. Weasley cried after she looked up from setting the stew on the table. She walked over to Harry and gave him a big hug. "How are you doing dear? Are you hungry?"  
"If you're cooking Molly, I'm sure he is," Lupin said with a smile as he sat down.  
Harry watched Lupin through dinner and was wondering why he was being unusually quiet. Finally, as everyone was talking amongst themselves Harry asked, "Who were those people you talked to Lupin?"  
Lupin looked up at Harry and asked, "Scott and Lavena? Well they're a couple of originals from the Order. Only not many people knew about them because we were trying to get information with out being found out so we recruited some people who weren't known to be on our side. They acted like they weren't on either side but helped us."  
Ron looked at Lupin in interest. "So they were sort of undercover?" he asked.  
Lupin smiled, "In a way I guess you could say they were. After Voldemort disappeared they moved back to California, where Scott was from. Now that it's out in the open that he's back, Albus called to see if they would come back again. After a....rather unpleasant event they decided to help out again and now they're here."  
"What happened?" Harry asked curiously.  
Lupin frowned and looked at the table. "It's not my place to tell," he said simply.  
"Okay, enough chit-chat," Mrs. Weasley said briskly. "It's time for you all to go up to bed." Mrs. Weasley woke up Ginny, who had fallen asleep on the table and herded everyone out of the kitchen.  
Harry walked up the stairs to the room he had slept in last year and got ready for bed. It was only after he and Ron went to bed that he finally began to feel the absence of Sirius.  
Unknown to Harry, downstairs in the kitchen a girl sat, staring, as though she could see through the wall, at Harry's bedroom.  
"So that's the famous Harry Potter," she muttered to herself as she drank her tea. At last she sighed and got up to go sleep. "Well, it'll be an interesting year to say the least."  
  
A.N. A quick shout out to Linda who helped me come up with the last name. Go Linda!! Also, let it be known that I still do not own any of these char. besides Scott, Lavena, and that girl who's name you don't know yet. 


	3. What Dreams Reveal

It took Harry almost four hours to fall asleep, so when Ron woke him up the next morning, for breakfast, Harry was still tired. The dreams he had didn't help much either. Most of the time he couldn't remember them, but when he did remember he would have rather forgotten.  
Harry and Ron walked down the stairs to find that Hermione and Ginny were already eating breakfast and discussing the letters McGonagall had dropped off when she came by that morning to report to the Order.  
Harry grabbed his letter, glanced through list, and set it aside. He could worry about that later, he still had two weeks before he needed to head to Diagon Alley and get his things for this year.  
"So who's going to be our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?" Harry asked. "I'm interested to know who we'll have this year."  
"Then you will be interested to hear that no one wanted the job," Lupin said as he walked through the kitchen door.  
Hermione glanced up from her conversation with Ginny. "You mean we don't have a teacher? But we need that class! Especially now. Plus, the teacher could help us with D.A."  
"I never said you didn't have a teacher," Lupin said calmly as he picked up some bacon. He took a bite and glanced at the anxious faces around him.  
"No guesses?" he asked them.  
Ron groaned. "Please, please don't tell me that Snape finally got the job."  
All of the heads in the room snapped to Lupin, each face full of fear. Lupin laughed at this display and shook his head slightly. "He is a rather unpleasant man, isn't he?" he asked the group.  
"Is he the new teacher?" Ginny asked. "I hated having him for Potions, and I bet I'd hate him even more if he taught Defense Against the Dark Arts."  
"Ginny!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed. "That's no way to talk about your teacher, not to mention a member of the Order."  
Ginny looked at her plate grumpily. "Well he is horrible. It's not my fault," she grumbled, her face beginning to turn pink.  
"Yes he his, Ginny," Lupin agreed, "But he's not your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."  
"Then who is?" Harry asked finally.  
Lupin looked at all of the students and said, "I am."  
"What?" asked Ron, his jaw dropping.  
"That's great!" Ginny shouted as she hugged Hermione.  
"Why?" asked Harry softly.  
Lupin looked seriously at Harry. "Like I said, no one wanted it. I told Dumbledore that if worse came to worse I would take the job, on the condition that I spent every full moon away from the school. A few days ago, when there still was no teacher, Dumbledore approached me and asked if I would take the job, so I agreed."  
"That's wonderful!" Hermione exclaimed. "Will Dumbledore let you help us with D.A?"  
Lupin looked at his plate and began to eat his eggs, which were probably cold by this point. "We will have to see about that," he said simply and with that the conversation was obviously over.  
At that moment Tonks walked in and said softly to Mrs. Weasley, "Annette didn't sleep well last night, so she won't be down for breakfast."  
Lupin jerked slightly and ended up spilling some of the pumpkin juice he was drinking. Tonks looked at him in surprise and Lupin smiled as he tried to clean it up. "Looks like your clumsiness is catching Tonks."  
"Goodness, I hope not!" Tonks said jovially. "Mine might disappear and what would I do then?"  
"Live longer?" Lupin asked, and Tonks left laughing.  
Harry exchanged looks with the others and silently mouthed "Annette?", but from the blank stares and shrugs it seemed he wasn't the only one left in the dark.  
  
Harry ran as fast as he could toward the arch. If only he could run faster, but right as he reached it he slipped. His hands reached out to stop his fall, but he only ended up pushing Sirius through the veil.  
"No!" Harry yelled as he hit the ground.  
With a gasp Harry sat up in the bed and looked around. Trembling slightly Harry pulled his knees up to his chest, and tried not to wake Ron.  
  
"I didn't kill him," Harry muttered into his knees. "It was Bellatrix. It wasn't me." But all the same he still felt responsible somehow. Shaking his head Harry climbed out of bed and decided to head down to the kitchen, maybe something to drink would help.  
Harry crept down the stairs, trying not to make a sound, while he considered just having water, or actually making tea. He carefully pushed open the door, hoping it wouldn't squeak, when he suddenly stopped as he noticed the blond haired girl was sitting at the table with her back to him. He started to slowly back out, not wanting to disturb her when she said, "Having problems sleeping too, Harry? Why don't you take a cup of tea too. I've found it helps sometimes."  
After the shock of hearing her American accent wore off Harry began to wonder how she knew he was standing there. "How did you know it was me?" he asked curiously as he walked around toward the other side of the table.  
The girl didn't say anything, and just poured another cup of tea for Harry to drink. She sighed, "You would think that in times of sorrow one would dream of happier times. Why is it we always dream of what gives us sorrow?" she asked her tea.  
Harry stiffened slightly. "How did you know I was having bad dreams?"  
The girl's blue eyes looked up and Harry was shocked by the fact that he thought he knew her. "I didn't. It's just that that is the reason I can't sleep either." She looked at the confusion on his face and smiled slightly. "Let me guess. You think you know me from somewhere?"  
Harry nodded and the girl shook her head ruefully. "Then I can bet you met my mother. You don't know how many times I've been called Lavena by one of the members of the Order, or told that I was the spitting image of my mom."  
Harry sat down and picked up his tea. "Well you know my name, but I don't know yours. I do know it isn't Lavena, now, though."  
The girl smiled at Harry over her tea cup. "My name is Annette Calder."  
"Oh!" Harry said with mild surprise. "You're the girl who wasn't sleeping well. Did you move here with your parents, or are you just here for the holiday break?"  
Annette looked at her tea cup, which was now empty and replied, "We've moved." She looked at Harry, who finished the rest of his tea quickly, and said, "Come here Harry, I know something that might help you sleep better."  
Harry stood and walked towards Annette, wondering what it was, as she pulled out her wand. "Now I want you to think of nothing Harry. This is very important. Clear your mind of everything and concentrate on darkness."  
Harry closed his eyes and tried his best to think of nothing. After about fifteen seconds Harry's mind no longer concentrated on anything and silence resounded in his ears.  
"Nihil Somniane," Annette said softly, and Harry felt as though he had just submerged himself in a warm bath. He opened his eyes and looked at Annette.  
"Now, if you were truly thinking of nothing, that is what you will dream of. Nothing." She smiled as she pocketed her wand and placed the two tea cups by the sink. "It's a shame you can't cast that spell on your self. Then maybe I would have no trouble sleeping either."  
"I'll cast it for you if you like," Harry offered, feeling guilty that he would sleep easier while she wouldn't.  
"It's alright Harry. They say dreams are when the unconscious mind remembers. Maybe mine will remember happier times tonight." Annette must have seen the concern on Harry's face because she then said, "Thank you though. It was a kind thought and maybe I will sleep better knowing someone wants me to." And with that she left the kitchen.  
Harry stood alone in the kitchen for a moment while he reflected on what had happened. He still didn't find out how Annette had known it was he who had walked into the kitchen, and not someone else. Harry yawned, and the question was pushed out of his mind as he began to walk back to his bed, and hoped this spell Annette had cast, really would help.  
  
A.N. Alas that I still have found no way to own any of these characters except for Annette, Scott, and Lavena. And the spell is mine too. So ha! Also, any and all requests/suggestions shall be kept in mind. 


	4. The Department for the Investigation of ...

The next two weeks seemed a blur to Harry. Annette's spell helped tremendously and he no longer woke up in the middle of the night, so his days weren't as troubled with thoughts and fears of his dreams. Annette was also very helpful with he and Ron's homework. Hermione didn't like helping them with the essays, but Annette seemed to know everything, and loved telling it to whoever asked. He still felt odd though, and he often found a way to gain some time to himself everyday. Today he found himself sitting in the drawing room on the first floor, just staring at the wall.  
It wasn't that he was still grieving Sirius' death, it was that he just felt empty. Harry glanced at the tapestry hanging on the wall. Just like the hole where Sirius' name was, there was a hole in Harry.  
"I doubt he would want you to be sulking around, Harry," came a voice behind him.  
Harry jumped and turned around. "Annette?" Harry asked. "What do you mean?"  
Annette stepped through the door the rest of the way and smiled softly. "I know he was your godfather. I grew up on stories about the Order. I also know you miss him, that's obvious." She sat down on the couch and looked at Harry. "But don't let it consume you, I doubt Sirius would want you to stop having fun just because he's gone. Just remember him, and think kindly on him. It's all anyone could ask for," she said with a sad smile.  
Harry shifted slightly. Why was she lecturing him on how to mourn someone? It's not like she knew what it was like to lose so many people she was close to.  
Before he could respond Ron walked through the door. "There you are Harry! Dinner's ready," Ron said, then turned around and left.  
Annette stood up. "I hope you'll take my advice Harry," she said as she walked out the door.  
"I'll remember it," Harry replied as he followed her into the kitchen.  
"That's all I can ask for," Annette said with a smile.  
"Harry! How you doing?" George asked.  
"George! When did you get here?" Harry asked back.  
"Oh, just dropped in for a visit with everyone before the rush comes in at the store. You'll be doing your shopping this week along with everyone else I suppose?" George inquired, and the noticed Annette. "Who do we have here?"  
"My name's Annette, and yours is...." she said questioningly.  
"George," he said simply. "I'm Ron's brother. Will you be joining us for dinner?"  
"I'm afraid I'm not that hungry," Annette declined.  
"Well then I hope I will see you again," George said with a smile.  
"You might," Annette then turned and ran into Fred, who was just entering the kitchen. "Oh my goodness! There are two of you?" she asked and then dodged around Fred, blushing, before he could answer and headed for the stairs.  
Fred looked after her confused and then turned to George who shrugged. Fred shrugged back, "Whatever," he said casually and then caught sight of Harry. "Harry, old boy!" he said putting his arm around Harry's shoulder and shaking him. "Life been treating you well?"  
Harry grinned. "Yeah, I've been fine." With that everyone bustled into the kitchen and began chattering.  
Soon, after everyone was full, Tonks had tried out everyone's hairstyle on herself, and Harry found himself dozing off at the table, Mrs. Weasley ushered everyone out of the kitchen.  
"Come on now, off to bed with the lot of you," she said as she pushed all the kids out the door.  
"Later Harry!" Fred called out as Harry exited the kitchen.  
Harry waved back, trying not to make any noise as he went up the stairs. He was already half asleep as walked through the door and began to ready himself for bed.  
As Harry lay under the covers, he let the darkness take him, knowing he was safe from his dreams.  
  
Harry sat up and looked around the dark room. A feeling of unease was hanging over him and he cast his mind about for the reason. There was only one thing that made him feel like this; the dreams, but they were gone. Or were they? Annette hadn't said how long the spell would last, but he was fooling himself if he thought it would last forever. He decided he would talk to her about it at breakfast.  
Harry stared at the ceiling in thought as the sun rose and slowly filled the room with light. Mrs. Weasley was probably up Harry thought, and since he was up, he might as well go down to help with breakfast.  
Harry walked into the kitchen to find Mrs. Weasley cooking away. However, when he offered to help she refused.  
"Oh no dear, that's alright. You just sit down, I'm almost done," she said waving at the table where Lupin was already sitting.  
So Harry joined Lupin, who was reading the Daily Prophet and drinking some tea, at the table.  
"Good morning Harry," Lupin said pleasantly as he turned the pages of the newspaper.  
"Good morning," Harry replied as he studied the front page. "'Fudge Creates New Department To Fight You-Know-Who?'" he read out loud, intrigued.  
Lupin looked up at Harry, and then looked at the front page. "Oh yeah," he said rolling his eyes. "Fudge realized he should 'help' Dumbledore so he went and created the Department for the Investigation of Dark Arts Activities."  
"The what?" Harry asked. Fudge had always done odd things in the past, but this just confused Harry.  
"It's sort of like the Muggle detectives. Let's say I thought you were working for Voldemort." Harry raised his eyebrows. "Hypothetically you're working for him. Anyway, I think you're doing something that would associate you with him. I would contact the new department, who would then, in turn, investigate you."  
Harry looked at Lupin in silence for a few seconds. "But how does that help?" he asked finally. "I doubt his followers would let themselves be seen, and if asked, they're not going to just confess."  
"Exactly," Lupin said shaking his head at the picture of Fudge standing outside the new department's office. "I don't know what he thinks it will do."  
"Now Remus," Mrs. Weasley said as she set down a large pot of porridge. "At least he's doing something. It's not like last year when he was fighting Dumbledore."  
"I know Molly, but I wish the something he was doing was helpful."  
At that point Ron and Hermione walked in arguing.  
"I'm not gong to let you read my essay Ron!" Hermione said firmly as she sat down at the table.  
"Ronald!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed as she set down a plate of toast and some honey. "You aren't cheating are you?"  
Ron's ears reddened. "No," he muttered and quickly began eating.  
Ginny came down to eat, and was followed later by Tonks, whose hair was now a nice shade of blue.  
After everyone had eaten, and Hermione had started reading Lupin's newspaper, Harry noticed Annette hadn't come down yet.  
"Where's Annette?" he asked no one in particular.  
"Yeah," Ron added. "I need help on that essay Snape gave us. 'Explain the uses and benefits of dragon's blood in potions'. I can't believe he wants two rolls of parchment," he added grumbling.  
Lupin looked up from his bowl. "She left," he said looking at Harry and Ron.  
"Left? No!" Ron said in horror. "How am I going to get that essay done?"  
Hermione looked up from the article she was reading. "By writing it yourself," she said and then went back to reading. Ron glared at the paper that was hiding Hermione in response.  
"Why did she leave?" Harry asked Lupin.  
"She moved into the house her parents bought," Lupin answered. "What do you think they were doing? They did move here from California after all."  
"I don't know," Harry replied. "I thought they would be doing stuff for the Order."  
Lupin smiled. "Well that too of course, but don't you think they should have a place to live?"  
"Yeah, okay. I guess that's more important," Harry admitted, but he was upset that Annette had left. She didn't say good-bye, and now he couldn't ask her about the spell. Would the dreams start again? 


End file.
